17 August 2011

Tourist swept to death over Niagara Falls

A tourist is presumed dead after being swept over the Niagara Falls as she was taking a photograph.

The woman, a 19-year-old Japanese student, is believed to have climbed over the safety railings to get a better view.

Onlookers said she slipped as she tried to climb back over, falling 80 feet into the fast moving river before being swept over the falls. Chief of the Niagara Parks Police told the BBC such accidents were "pretty rare".

The accident, which happened on Sunday near the Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side of Niagara, was captured on a security camera.

The Japanese woman's body has yet to be recovered, although during a search a rescue team instead found an unidentified male body at the base of the falls, the Canadian Press said.

Canadian and U.S. authorities say they are working to identify the corpse, and that there is no connection to the missing student, who has not been named.


By Linsey McNeill